Messages

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: T3i vs T4i for first dslr

« on: November 27, 2012, 11:50:52 AM »

I would recommend the T4i simply for the much higher quality focus system but you will need f2.8 or faster lenses to truly take advantage of it. I do a good bit of low light event work and getting focus lock in low light was an issue for me with the T2i (which I also still have as my second camera).

The lens you choose can influence whether you get focus beyond the aperture requirement. I have a sigma 85mm f1.4 which was not consistent with getting sharp focus on the T2i even in what I consider less difficult lighting conditions. It is MUCH better and more consistent with the T4i (although still not near the Canon 85mm f1.2L).

It is my understanding that the focus system is almost identical in the T3i and the T2i.

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Canon EOS Rebel T4i First Impression Review

« on: June 11, 2012, 03:20:03 PM »

What would be interesting to find out is how the sensor performs relative to the old 18MP sensor.  Canon has been very silent about the fact that the sensor is new, aside from the fact that it now incorporates phase detect AF capability.  Either Canon doesn't want to draw any attention to the fact that the IQ has not been improved, or Canon doesn't want to draw any attention to IQ improvements for fear of impacting 60D and 7D sales.

I was thinking the same thing. Several reviews have read that they used a pre-production model so they couldn't do that level of testing. That surprises me because the sensor should be a final and a RAW should require no camera processing or am I naive? I sure hope that the latter reason you give is right?

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Canon General / Re: Canon Rebel T4i/650D EF-S 18-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS STM & EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Officially Announced

« on: June 09, 2012, 03:33:07 AM »

Since this is a new sensor, It is extremely unlikely that IQ will be the same with 3 years of technological refinement time. Please take the time to read the materials out there before making such silly statements.

Please detail the effect of >3 years of tecnhological refinement on the FF CMOS sensor used in the 5DIII vs. that in the 5DII.  I'm not talking about better jpg conversion thanks to improvements in Digic, I mean the actual RAW image quality from the sensor, nor am I talking about Canon's marketing Kool-Aid.  Please take the time to review past history before making such silly statements.

You admit later in the thread that there is a performance gain from the 5d MKII to MK III sensor in RAW performance. Thus I was correct based on past history. I made no claims as the amount of the difference, only that there would be a difference. I would never make such a quantitative statement on the difference unless I had done the testing myself or had it on extremely trusted authority (and had seen the differences myself).

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Canon General / Re: Canon Rebel T4i/650D EF-S 18-135 f/3.5-5.6 IS STM & EF 40mm f/2.8 STM Officially Announced

« on: June 08, 2012, 12:23:36 PM »

Bottom line: IQ and ISO in RAW will be the same as T2i\T3i.

Yup.  I can't believe my more than 2-year-old T2i will basically have the same RAW IQ as the latest and greatest Canon crop body offering, which is $849 body only.  It's rather sad.

Since this is a new sensor, It is extremely unlikely that IQ will be the same with 3 years of technological refinement time. Please take the time to read the materials out there before making such silly statements.

Autofocus actually has some features that exceed the autofocus in the 7D. I had my expectations low and am now super excited.

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EOS Bodies / Re: Canon EOS Rebel T4i/650D Full Specifications

« on: June 07, 2012, 02:38:41 PM »

I want to ask just for clarity. Is this for sure the old sensor or a new one? I'm not asking for speculation or deductive reasoning. Does anyone truly know?

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EOS Bodies / Re: *UPDATE* Canon Rebel T4i/650D on June 8 [CR3]

« on: June 04, 2012, 02:46:41 PM »

Had that with 430EX/2s - its most likely an alignment problem, one contact slips of its counterpart and the flash reverts to standard middle contact operation.

Thanks for the thought! It is definitely in my camera shoe as I've done testing with multiple 580s at my nearby rental store. I did hammer (very lightly and carefully!) the top of the shoe down just a bit and it seemed to make it somewhat better. I may try and bring the sides in a teensy tiny bit after I get the new T4i body and before I send it in for service. It seemed to be caused (I'm guessing) by having a speedlite mounted on top of my PW flex-tt5 which puts an abnormal amount of pressure on the shoe and a lot of vertical/horizontal movements.

BTW: Truland Photo - Thanks for that diffraction resource. Quite interesting and informative.

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EOS Bodies / Re: Canon Rebel T4i/650D on June 8, 2012? [CR2.5]

« on: June 04, 2012, 01:35:03 PM »

If you are very pleased with T2i sharpness at f/18, you'll be blown away by it's performance at f/5.6

I have had a shoe issue with my T2i that makes TTL work rather flakily at times. It will go to full  blast exposure occasionally.  I can then reset my camera by turning it off and on which sometimes works, OR, in a pinch, I just adjust my camera to compensate as I did here. As soon as I get a new body, this T2i goes in for repair. The flash was an Einstein 640 w/ Beauty Dish in conjunction with a reflector. I was going for a high key look after all!

FYI, it worked flawlessly for quite a while btw. But since it started doing this, it has been a serious pain in the butt at times.

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EOS Bodies / Re: Canon Rebel T4i/650D on June 8, 2012? [CR2.5]

« on: June 04, 2012, 02:51:00 AM »

The 7d has features which allow me to get a shot i may not have gotten otherwise, but ultimately i just dont think it had a sensor performing the way it should. Sharpness would only affect about 5% of the images i output, often reliability is more important. Anyway I am done on the 7d topic, I would apreciate Canon improving the APS-C sensor they are using...they have ergonomics, build and features where it counts but better image quality would make the the 7d the APS-C camera unbeatable in all aspects. I look forward to seeing what canon produces...I'm ready for similar IQ to the pentax and Fuji sensors.

If Canon released the t4i without a new sensor, I would have serious doubts about Canon's short term outlook in the low end DLSR market. It doesn't make sense that they would put out the same sensor when Sony and Nikon have the level of offerings they have. Canon has been at the forefront of development in this area for quite some time now. I doubt they want to relinquish the lead.
On the 7D note, there were rumors posted about merging the 7D and 60D bodies to make way for a low end full frame in their price lineup. I personally would buy a 70D in a heartbeat over the T4i if both were available simultaneously soon (For hopefully even better autofocus and microlensadjustment if the new 70d had it).

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EOS Bodies / Re: Canon Rebel T4i/650D on June 8, 2012? [CR2.5]

« on: June 04, 2012, 02:10:28 AM »

To Chewngum:

I have been very pleased with the sharpness I have gotten with certain lenses on my t2i. Here is a link to a 100% clip from an above head to breast height image. F18 Iso100 1/160 with an EFS 17-55 F2.8 IS. See attachment.

I am very pleased with the sharpness I get. I just want a better low light sensitivity/less noise and better low light autofocus.

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EOS Bodies / Re: Canon Rebel T4i/650D on June 8, 2012? [CR2.5]

« on: June 03, 2012, 02:19:23 PM »

I saw a touchscreen on another point and shoot once. It was simply used to direct the focal point in live view quickly and easily which is something I find very slow with the current buttons. As to leaving marks on the screen, since I normally use the viewfinder, I am constantly smearing the lcd with oil and or sweat from my face when I'm working and just as constantly, wiping it off. I don't see how my fingers touching it will be worse than that if any worse since my fingertips are not as oily or as sweaty as my face.

I am set to order this T4i as soon as it is available to order as long as it has a new sensor. That to me is the heart and soul of the camera. There are other issues/features I'd like addressed particularly better faster low light focusing, but without a new sensor, I will not upgrade.

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EOS Bodies / Re: Canon Rebel T4i [CR2]

« on: April 30, 2012, 09:26:29 PM »

By the way, I just don't understand why someone who is getting a DSLR for video use would get a 550D rather than a 600D/T3i. The flip screen and the 3x zoom that eliminates moire are well worth the premium. For stills, I don't see why anyone would get the 600D over the 550D. I think the fact that the 550D outsells the 600D says why people buy these cams.

I was surprised by the last line and went to amazon to see. http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Electronics-Digital-SLR-Cameras/zgbs/electronics/3017941/ref=zg_bs_nav_e_3_281052
I am planning on buying a t4i the instant it becomes available to order UNLESS it has the same sensor. Based on the number of sales at this general price and the current level of competition, it would seem (IMO) to me that it would be ludicrous for it not to be an improved sensor.

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EOS Bodies - For Stills / Re: Buying 60D, what lens + accessories get?

« on: March 25, 2012, 01:54:55 PM »

What really defines what you want to buy is what you are planning to shoot. Personally, I shoot a lot of fashion and beauty but also portraiture and events. The events are often low light conditions. The lens I use 95% of the time is my Canon EFS 17-55 IS f2.8. It is super sharp, very quick to focus and has IS.

I have two primes, a 50 and an 85 f1.4. The 17-55 is as sharp as the primes and the reliability and consistency particularly with the IS is key. It lets me shoot substantially slower shutter speeds than I can with the 85mm as my hands seem to "vibrate" :-) I truly regret buying the 50mm. The 85 with the crop factor is the lens I use the other 5% of the time when I have very low light conditions and of course am far enough away from the subject.

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Lenses / Re: Lenses for 650D

« on: March 11, 2012, 04:05:54 PM »

I have a Sigma 50mm f1.4 for my T2i and it sux. So bad at focusing, sharpness, and CA that I don't even use it. Went thru 2 copies of this lens trying to get a decent one.

The best lens I have which is awesome in sharpness as well as focusing speed is the EFS 17-55 F2.8 IS. One of the best purchases I've made.

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Lenses / Re: Is 50mm Sigma that good?

« on: March 11, 2012, 04:00:14 PM »

I have this and I was very disappointed.  I had read that some of them had focus issues but thought I would be the lucky one. Got it. Performed a myriad of tests. Called B&H(where I had bought it), ran more tests that they suggested. Returned it, got another lens. Almost exactly the same results. Wound up sending to Sigma. They fixed it under warranty and returned it. It was actually worse when I got it back. I now never use this lens.

I purchased an 85mm f1.4 locally and it is much better. I have a T2i fyi. I put the 85mm on a borrowed 5D mk II and it was noticeably better and pretty damn good.

If I had microadjustment for lenses on my camera, I might be able to get it closer. the 85 mm front focuses on my t2i so I sometimes deliberately focus lock on an area slightly behind my real point of focus. And take a bunch of pictures to help me get lucky. It also seems to do more hunting in low light than my EFS 17-55 f2.8 IS which is a superb lens for me BTW.

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EOS Bodies / Re: T4i and 5D Mark III in February??

« on: January 29, 2012, 05:29:56 PM »

The best buy is the 550D. You get the same same sensor as the 600D, the 60D and the 7D for a fraction of a cost. Put all your money into lenses.  Or into a full frame camera.

Exactly what I have been doing starting with the T2i purchase in 09-2010. I am very ready and needing to upgrade and was hoping to hold out for a 5D3 but I only have about $2000 saved which isn't going to cut it plus would need to buy 24-70 f2.8 as well.

New plan is to buy either a 70D first (if its announced) or a T4i. I think it very unlikely that they would not use a new sensor as the competition (primarily Sony) has been breathing down their neck for quite a bit. After the 5D3 is announced and shipping, maybe I will be able to pull together some money toward that and sell my T2i which will be used as a backup/secondary camera in the interim.

However, if there is not a new sensor, I will just hold out and hope for the best.